USS Theodore Roosevelt Berthing Team Overhauls Living Quarters for Crew Move Aboard
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS120524-11
5/24/2012
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman John Paul Kotara II, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Berthing Team have refurbished 53 living quarters in time for the ship's crew move aboard (CMA) process, which began May 21, and are continuing to overhaul more spaces ensuring they are up to safety and living standards as part of the ship's refueling complex overhaul (RCOH).
The berthing team is in charge of performing one job, to make ready all the berthing spaces on the ship.
The team is led by Weapons Department and consists of a team comprised of up to 50 Sailors who work strictly on the transformation of the spaces. As the initial phase of CMA starts for TR, countless hours of hard work were put into the preparation for living on the ship.
"I couldn't ask for anything more from my Sailors," said Chief Aviation Ordnanceman (AW/SW) Jason Burch, chief in charge of the berthing team. "They came in and worked long hours and were able to see the end product, I couldn't be more impressed by their dedication to get the job done."
With so many spaces on the ship needing to be rehabilitated, the team had their work cut out for them.
"We have 59 berthing spaces on this ship that need to be worked on," said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) Devin Thompson, berthing team leader. "This is more than any ship has seen in any RCOH process ever."
To help sort out the amount of work needed with each space, the berthing spaces are classified into two categories. Category one is the most labor and time intensive consisting of a complete overhaul of the entire compartment.
"Going through the spaces we came to the conclusion that 99 percent of the berthing spaces were category one," said Burch.
The team begins by removing all equipment from the berthing, in essence starting from scratch. The space is then cleaned from top to bottom and painted. This is when the equipment is brought to be installed in the space. Equipment is transported from the flight deck or hanger bay to the compartment via working parties.
"Doing this is a time consuming process, the items passed from person to person range from five pounds to 80 pound lockers or racks," said Thompson.
After doing this the team focuses on installing new rack lights and finally resurfacing the deck. After the space is completed the old equipment is not thrown out. The team will salvage every useable piece of gear and use it in other compartments. This is what is used in a category two compartment.
A category two berthing is one that does not have to be revived from the bottom up. This is because the condition of the space is good enough to warrant only a few repairs and installations. The gear salvaged from the condition one berthing is recycled into the condition two berthing. This helps save time and money in an attempt to reestablish the berthing in a timely manner. The bulk of the work is comprised of the division that owns the space, with help provided from the berthing team.
"With our efforts more than 300 mirrors were recycled and used in the category two berthing," said Thompson.
With all the work accomplished by the berthing team, spaces are now completed and ready to sleep in. With TR entering its final year of RCOH, and 53 out of 59 crew berthings complete, the berthing team is nearing the end of its rehabilitations and is slowing down production.
"Everyone needs to go the extra mile," said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class (AW) Corely Simon, a Sailor on the berthing team. "This isn't just a rack and deck, this is where we are going to live and everyone needs to do their part to preserve the quality and cleanliness of the spaces so that others in later years don't pay for what we do."
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